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Frontier Religion in Western Pennsylvania1 Roy H FRONTIER RELIGION IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA1 ROY H. JOHNSON is wellknown that Christian missionaries have been trail blazers for ITthe path of empire on many a remote frontier. So, too, long before permanent settlements were made, emissaries of the gospel came to seek their constituents among the military outposts and scattered cabins of the trans-Allegheny region. The first leaders were subsidized and directed by eastern missionary societies, synods, associations, and conferences, but within a few decades western Pennsylvania achieved a self-sufficing stage, her log colleges and seminaries training a local ministry. Roman Catholic priests and Moravian missionaries were in the van of religious workers. In 1754 the chapel of Fort Duquesne was dedi- cated under the title of "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of the Beautiful River." Four years later Christian Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary, came within sight of Fort Machault, and, in 1767, his col- league David Zeisberger began a mission station "on the left bank of the Allegheny, not far from the mouth of the Tionesta."* After the conspiracy of Pontiac had been checked Presbyterian ministers came in greater numbers than other denominational workers. Before the settlers could organize to appeal for aid the Synod of New York and Philadel- phia sent traveling preachers west. During the late summer of 1766 Charles Beatty and George Duffield,Presbyterian ministers, visited Fort Bedford, Stony Creek, Laurel Hill,and Fort Pitt and passed on through 1This paper, with the title "The Religious Factor in Pioneer Life," was read at Grove City on July 15, 1932, during the historical tour under the auspices of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania and the summer session of the University of Pittsburgh. The author is a professor of history in Thiel College, Greenville. 1St. Paul's Cathedral Record Containing an Historical Sketch of St. Paul's Cathedral from the Beginning of the First Parish in the City of Pittsburgh, 3 (n.p., n.d.)l J« N. Fradenburgh, History of Erie Conference, 1:26, 95 (Oil City, 1907). 23 ROY 24 H. JOHNSON Feb. Logstown and Sawcunk to the Tuscarawas and Muskingum country. The followingpassages, taken from Beatty's diary, give some idea of the purpose and accomplishments of the mission : 19th. Tuesday. Rode four or five miles to a place in the wood, designed for building a house for worship, and preached but to a small auditory; notice of our preaching not having been sufficiently spread. After sermon, Iopened to the people present, the principal design of the synod in sending us to them, at this time; that it was not only to preach the gospel, but also to enquire into their circumstances, situation, numbers, and ability to support it. The people not being prepared to give us a fullanswer, promised to send it to Carlisle before our return. ...This valley of Tuskerora is about thirty-two miles in length; between six and seven miles broad in the middle, and about ten miles wide at the lower end next to Juniata river. There are about eighty- four families livingin this valley who propose to build two houses for wor- ship ... In the afternoon, being in the open air, we were interrupted by a very heavy shower of rain...which obliged us to take shelter in a neighbour- ing house as well as we could. ...After sermon, Iwent to a house about a mile off, and baptized a child born last night, and returned to capt. Paterson's in the evening. In a footnote Beatty says: "It was truly affecting to see, almost in every place on the frontiers, marks of the ravages of the cruel and barbarous enemy [Indians], Houses and fences burned, household furniture de- stroyed, the cattle killed, and horses either killed or carried off, and to hear the people relate the horrid scenes that were acted." 3 Itdoes not lie within the scope of this study to detail the organization of religious groups inhundreds of centers in western Pennsylvania. The purpose is rather to understand the importance and influence of such activities. In order to make possible the inclusion of details the study is limited to the so-called popular churches, the Presbyterian, the Metho- dist, and the Baptist. No matter how small the group or inadequate the facilities, Presby- terian frontiersmen demanded educated ministers. Princeton University and, later, the log colleges at Canonsburg and Washington furnished the necessary instruction. Each prospective preacher had to undergo an examination before the presbytery, in literature, Greek and Latin, ma- 3 Charles Beatty, The Journal of a Two Months Tour; with a View of Promoting Re- ligion among the Frontier Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and of Introducing Christianity among the Indians,10-12, 15 (London, 1768). FRONTIER RELIGION 1933 25 thematics and philosophy, and to preach a trial sermon on an assigned Latin text. The Redstone Presbytery, founded in 178 1, frequently con- ducted trials for prospective ministers. The following minutes are re- corded for Thursday, April 23, 1795: "Mr. James Adams having offered himself a Candidate for the Gospel Ministry, P.b.y ...appointed him an exegesis on the following theme, Quo modo Sacrae Scripturae probantur esse divinae. P.b.y proceeded to examine Mr. Adams on the Latin and Greek Languages, the specimens which he gave thereon were accepted as parts of trials." On June 26, 1799, "P.b.y appointed Mr. Moorhead to prepare an exegesis on the following theme quid sit dis- crimen inter Foedera operum et gratiae, also a Homily on 1. John 4.19 tobe brough(t) in at our next meeting." 4 In contrast to this insistence on academic preparation were the prac- tices of the Methodists and the Baptists. Individuals with the proper spirit and sermonizing ability were accepted as preachers regardless of special training. In the social meetings of the Methodists it was easy to discover the outstanding prayers and talkers. Such persons were made class lead- ers and assigned various duties such as giving out hymns, encouraging the members, and delivering short exhortatory addresses at the com- mencement and conclusion of the meetings. The circuit rider then had the power to make exhorters of these leaders. At a quarterly confer- ence an exhorter, properly recommended by his home society, might be licensed as a local preacher, after due examination in doctrine, disci- pline, and Christian experience. The annual conference then had the power to elect the local preacher to full membership and ordain him to the office of deacon. The case of Robert Roberts, who came to She- nango, Mercer County, in 1796 to operate a farm, is typical. He joined a local class two years later and in 1800 was given a license to exhort by a circuit preacher. Roberts was made a local preacher by the West Wheeling circuit in 1802, was received on trial by the Baltimore Con- ference, and was appointed to the Carlisle circuit. Bishop Francis Asbury ordained him a deacon at Alexandria, D.C., in 1804. 5 4 Presbytery of Redstone, Minutes ... September iq, 178 1, to December, 183 1, 116, 149 (Cincinnati, 1878). 5 Charles Elliott, The Life of the Rev. Robert R. Roberts, One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 67, 90, 96—100, 115 (Cincinnati, 1844). H, 26 ROY JOHNSON Feb. The Baptists, unaided by eastern organizations and unhampered by rigid requirements concerning the licensing and ordination of ministers, developed a native leadership. It was customary to wait upon the Lord to see whether anyone would be divinely inspired to exercise a public gift such as singing, praying, exhorting, or preaching. The frontier Baptist preacher had to have a remunerative avocation as there was no assurance of regular support from the congregation. In 1785 David Philips acquired a 390 acre farm near the site of the Peters Creek Bap- tist Church in Washington County. Two years later he was called to preach. The initial pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh was a glassworker. 6 The Christian ministry on the frontier was truly a labor of love, for not only was the promised stipend low but it was not uncommon for a congregation to be three years or more in arrears on salary payments. It was the custom to meet a part of the obligation by payments in kind. One Presbyterian congregation (Congruity, in Westmoreland County) on April 11, 1798, presented a written guarantee to pay the Reverend Samuel Porter "one hundred and twenty Pounds clear of all deficiency the one half in merchantable wheat at five shillings pr bushel and the other half in Cash." Bids were often received for one-half or one-fourth the time of a pastor. In 1819 the church at French Creek promised $204 and one hundred acres of land for three-fourths of the time of the Reverend A.Brook, and the congregation of Buchanan took the other fourth of his time at fifty dollars a year. 7 It was the practice of the Methodist General Conference to standardize the salaries of preachers. Prior to 1792 the itinerant evangelist had to pay his own expenses out of a salary of sixty-four dollars per year. From 1800 to 1816 the travel- ing preacher was promised eighty dollars and expenses on the road. In addition eighty dollars was allowed for a wife, sixteen dollars for each child under seven, and twenty-four dollars for children from seven to fourteen. Collections in cash and produce were slow and, even though 6 Mrs. S. F. Boyer, "History of the Peters Creek Baptist Church, 1773-1923," p. 2 (typescript in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh)} Fred M.
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